Thursday, February 25, 2010

Today in Vancouver, the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) signed an agreement declaring the KHL’s intentions to abide by the WADA’s World Anti-Doping Code and the Code's main principles and regulations. In doing so, the KHL becomes the first major, international professional sports league to commit to the tenets of the WADA’s best-in-class anti-doping regulations and measures.

“By establishing this partnership, we are positioning the KHL as a leader among other sports leagues on this issue,” said KHL president Alexander Medvedev. “This agreement further demonstrates, through our commitment to create a drug-free environment for all of our players, the willingness of the KHL to be transparent in its operations.”

One of the KHL’s first steps under this newly signed agreement will be the creation of a player ambassador program as part of “Clear Ice,” the league’s own anti-doping program, featuring such KHL stars as Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Yashin and Sergei Federov. The goal of the ambassador program will be to further educate both fellow players and youth sports participants about the dangers of drug use.

>> KHL release

A positive step, one would think. It'll be interesting if there'll be in-season testing done, which is something WADA has criticized the NHL for not having in the past. .

0 Comments:

Links to this post:

About Me

A sportswriter at The Globe and Mail, James covers the NHL and the game of hockey. He is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, a radio and TV analyst with TSN and was the NHL network manager at SB Nation from 2008 to 2010. A graduate of Thompson Rivers and Ryerson universities, James grew up in Kamloops, B.C. — one of Canada's great hockey cities — and was a season ticket holder in the Blazers' glory years.

my sponsors

► Casino Guide Canada is home to the best Canadian online casinos with exclusive bonuses and reviews including free picks & predictions found in their NFL online betting previews and recommended Canada online sportsbooks.